CALGARY — The average Canadian consumer’s debt, excluding mortgage, has increased at its greatest rate in nearly two years, according to TransUnion’s quarterly analysis of national credit trends. The report, released Wednesday, said debt jumped 4.6 per cent in the third quarter of this year to $26,768. The nation experienced both its largest quarterly (2.1 per cent) and annual (4.6 per cent) growth since the fourth quarter of 2010.

Doctors who refuse to get a flu shot are inadvertently increasing the risk of their patients dying of flu, argues an editorial in Canada’s top medical journal that calls for mandatory flu shots for health care workers.

White Rock Ford dealer Ron Ford may have Canada's best collection of historic hot rods. He has been a car nut since the age of 14 when he and a 16-year-old neighbour in Victoria chopped and channelled a 1934 Ford cabriolet, installed a hopped up flat-head V8 engine and took off on a trip to visit relatives in Calgary. Neither of the two friends had a driver's licence. They had taught themselves how to do body and mechanical work.

The RCMP said Tuesday that information released by an international hacktivist group identifying a Vancouver-area man as Amanda Todd’s tormentor is “unfounded,” and warned against the spread of false information through social media.

A Canada Border Services Agency officer was shot in the neck by a suspect who then turned the gun on himself, leaving him dead at the Douglas (Peace Arch) border crossing in Surrey on Tuesday afternoon, RCMP confirmed.

The first of a group of 200 temporary Chinese workers approved by the federal government will start arriving in B.C. in coming weeks to work in the burgeoning northeast coal industry, a mine project spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday. In total, anywhere from 1,600 to just under 2,000 Chinese nationals could find full-time work in four projects being proposed in coming years for the region, due to the shortage of underground mining skills in Canada, according to industry officials.

Ontario’s finance minister was in Calgary on Thursday to declare his province’s enthusiastic friendship and support for Alberta — and the province’s oilsands. Dwight Duncan, who spoke at a luncheon organized by the Alberta Enterprise Group, said he had been directed by Premier Dalton McGuinty “to reach out” and his visit was just the first step by Ontario’s Liberal government in building a stronger relationship with Alberta.

Cheryl McCormack and her three girlfriends had a lot to celebrate at their slumber party: The school term had just ended, Christmas was just around the corner and their Grade 12 prom was only months away. They arrived at the sleepover with pyjamas, their youthful naiveté and 14 ecstasy pills.

OTTAWA — The bulk of B.C.-destined debris from Japan’s tsunami disaster in March of 2011 is expected to arrive on the province’s shores in early 2013, but chances are remote that any material will be radioactive, according to the federal government. The debris moved away from Japan’s shores several days before radioactive material was released from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, and only a small percentage of the debris originates from the Fukushima area, Health Canada said in documents tabled in Parliament this week.

Millions of dollars used by the Hells Angels to buy cocaine from undercover police came from the ill-gotten assets of Osoyoos resident Kevin Van Kalkeren, according to new court documents filed by the B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture. And the director wants properties, bank accounts and cash linked to Van Kalkeren, his company and family members forfeited to the government, alleging the assets are the proceeds of crime.

Before she turned 20, Elizabeth Bassett had dreams of owning a car and paying for post-secondary education – both costly aspirations shared by many young adults. Her mother is a member at Motor City Community Credit Union, and so this was her first choice for financial guidance. Now 27, she owns a car, has a […]